A Black Mother's Tears
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Last Thursday, after the release of the videos showing how their son was killed, the parents of Patrick Lyoya spoke at a press conference at Renaissance Church of God in Christ Family Center. Peter and Dorcas Lyoya explained how they came to America seeking safety from the Republic of Congo in 2014. They went on to say that that sense of security was destroyed by the police when Patrick was killed. They shared that Patrick was their first child, and Mr. Lyoya noted that he expected Patrick to take his place as the patriot of the family.
I was in tears throughout the press conference, but my sadness intensified when I saw Mrs. Lyoya's tears. I was overcome with emotions partly because I have a son who is the same age as Partick. So, while I grieve with her, I also sympathize and fear for Black lives, especially Black males like my son, her sons. I can't imagine losing my son in such an awful way.
Last year I wrote this poem, and at the sight of Patrick Lyoya's mothers' tears during that press conference, I am compelled to brush it off again. The poem is an elegy acknowledging the history and pain of a Black mother's tears after inhumanely losing a child.
Here is a rewrite of a poem I did in 2021 called "A Black Mother's Tears." I wanted to repost a version of it in acknowledgment of Patrick Lyoya's mother.
A Black Mother's Tears
By Sophia Ward Brewer
Lord, "You keep track of all my sorrows,
You have collected all my tears in your bottle,
You have recorded each one in your book." (Psalm 56:8(NLT)
Father, only you know how much we've undertook.
From days long ago to yesterday,
From the Transatlantic slave trade to this policing melee,
It's the children of slave mothers time and time again
That continues to live and die by the color of their skin.
Just imagine the tears flowing from a mother of slaves,
Her babies rip from the womb in those days,
Sold to another, living life in horror,
Helpless and broken with no one to restore her.
Some may think that Trayvon Martin is where this began,
But really, this shit is as old as man,
From the three-fifth compromise to lynching and Jim Crow
The tears of Black mothers constantly flow.
But nevertheless, we must digress
Obama ushered us into the age of progress?
What happened to Trayvon was just a fluke,
And the sobs of Sybrina Fulton were often rebuked
You should have raised him better, is what they said
While she cried, my son is dead
The jury said, justice denied!
In the meantime, many others died.
From Michael Brown to Freddie Gray, we bear
The pain and judgment of our heir,
The denial of humanity for many years,
Are caught in a bottle of black mothers' tears
The eyes of justice are blind, they say
She weighs the scales of every case,
But time after time, lady justice seems,
To disregard a black mothers' streams
Mothers forced instead to raise their head
To champion their child despite the dread,
For grief and heartache, she must forsake
Because her child's character is at stake
This has happened over and over again.
It happened to the mothers of Tamir Rice, Breonna Taylor, and
Sandra Bland,
These mothers stand before all with the mission and aim
To humanize their children and counterclaim.
Now here in our city, another mother is in pain.
Her wish is justice for Patrick though his killer is unnamed,
While we wait, we must not let his character be defamed,
To honor him and her, we must continue to say his name.
Partick Lyoya
Sophia Brewer (M.L.I.S.) is Collection Development and Serials Librarian, Grand Rapids Community College; Co-President of the Greater Grand Rapids History Council; member of the Grand Rapids Study Club and serves on the Grand Rapids Public Library, Board of Library Commissioners (Elected 2016-2021). She is a former Head of Programs, Grand Rapids Public Library and former Branch Manager, Madison Square Branch, Grand Rapids Public Library Congresswoman
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